Brian Wecht

Gauge theories from toric geometry and brane tilings

We provide a general set of rules for extracting the data defining a quiver gauge theory from a given toric Calabi-Yau singularity. Our method combines information from the geometry and topology of Sasaki-Einstein manifolds, AdS/CFT, dimers, and brane tilings. We explain how the field content, quantum numbers, and superpotential of a superconformal gauge theory on D3-branes probing a toric Calabi-Yau singularity can be deduced. The infinite family of toric singularities with known horizon Sasaki-Einstein manifolds La,b,c is used to illustrate these ideas. We construct the corresponding quiver gauge theories, which may be fully specified by giving a tiling of the plane by hexagons with certain gluing rules. As checks of this construction, we perform a-maximisation as well as Z-minimisation to compute the exact R-charges of an arbitrary such quiver. We also examine a number of examples in detail, including the infinite subfamily La,b,a, whose smallest member is the Suspended Pinch Point.

Sicilian gauge theories and N=1 dualities

In theories without known Lagrangian descriptions, knowledge of the global symmetries is often one of the few pieces of information we have at our disposal. Gauging (part of) such global symmetries can then lead to interesting new theories, which are usually still quite mysterious. In this work, we describe a set of tools that can be used to explore the superconformal phases of these theories. In particular, we describe the contribution of such non-Lagrangian sectors to the NSVZ β-function, and elucidate the counting of marginal deformations. We apply our techniques to

Exactly Marginal Deformations and Global Symmetries

\mathcal{N}

Evidence for the strongest version of the 4d a-theorem, via a-maximization along RG flows

= 1 theories obtained by mass deformations of the

AdS/CFT dual pairs from M5-branes on Riemann surfaces

\mathcal{N}

A new infinite class of quiver gauge theories

= 2 conformal theories recently found by Gaiotto. Because the basic building block of these theories is a triskelion, or trivalent vertex, we dub them “Sicilian gauge theories.” We identify these